Five simple yet effective ways to cut the cost of your renovation

There’s nothing quite like a renovation to transform a home, but it can also be a sure-fire way to drain your bank account.

Before you take out that second mortgage, consider if your home – and wallet – will benefit from a straightforward update rather than a full-scale renovation.

A half-finished renovation due to lack of funds is never ideal but with some planning and effective strategies in place, your renovation will be complete – minus the headache.

To reduce the pressure and keep your project within budget, apply some of these simple yet effective tips.

Choose the perfect flooring

While sourcing high-quality flooring may dent your budget, you can often find a similar look for half the price, providing you do your research.

Choosing the right flooring is all about understanding its purpose, according to flooring specialist and Melbourne Flooring Solutions director Shaun Perera.

“If you have a rental property, pets or kids that play on the floor, you might want to opt for a laminate,” he said. “It’s hard to scratch, easy to look after and not a huge cost to replace.

“It’s often hard to tell the difference between engineered floorboards and laminate products once they’re installed.”

Perera says renovators should expect to pay about $40 to $45 per square metre for eight-millimetre laminate flooring and $60 to $65 for a 12-millimetre product, including supply and install with underlay and trim.

Give it a lick of paint

Paint is the simplest, quickest and yet least expensive way to brighten a dated home.

But before you begin, consider how paint will change the room and opt for a colour scheme that complements your existing floor coverings, furniture and finishes to avoid more costly changes.

If you’re taking the DIY route, break the project down into smaller parts, room by room. You’ll need sandpaper, sugar soap, drop sheets, a couple of brushes for cutting in, rollers, and paint trays to get started.

If it’s an older property and the walls aren’t in great condition, you may also need plaster filler and a spatula to fill any holes or cracks, and undercoat to make sure the paint adheres properly.

Retain the layout

If kitchens and bathrooms are tired but functional, focus on updating fixtures and fittings to keep the cost down.

Retaining the same layout will save your hip pocket during your renovation, according to Daniel D’Andrea, managing director at The Bathroom Pro.

“If it’s a concrete slab, solid brick and all below-ground, changing the layout is going to be expensive,” said D’Andrea. Fortunately, a lot can be achieved with updating the existing fixtures and fittings rather than redesigning the entire room.

So, how much will this save you on labour? “You would save between $500 to $750 on plumbing labour alone for a small bathroom,” D’Andrea adds.

Replace doors and handles

When it comes to adding personality to your home, updating dated doors and handles can give you great bang for your buck.

A glass door can allow light to stream into a living area, brighten a hallway, or give the sense of a larger space, while new door handles can add a personal touch or a modern edge to your home.

“Door handles can be a really easy and relatively inexpensive way to update your doors, including cabinetry in your kitchen and laundry,” said Studio One Interiors owner and principal designer Laura Downie. “And a recent increase in boutique hardware suppliers means a whole new selection of handles to choose from.”

Half-moon shapes are becoming increasingly popular according to Downie. “I believe we’re starting to switch towards creating more contrast with handles that add personality and wow factor into your home renovation,“ she said.

Update tiled splashbacks

Kitchens can be improved affordably by subtle changes that pack a punch, such as replacing a splashback.

You can turn a drab backdrop into an interesting feature and Downie believes tiled splashbacks offer the diversity that other splashback options don’t.

“Aside from the huge range of tile materials, colours and shapes, they also offer the opportunity for different laying techniques,” Downie said. “Examples of which include the increasingly popular herringbone technique or offsetting the tiles, both of which make for an interesting feature in your kitchen.”

But if you want to play it safe, Downie suggests to use contrasting grout. It continues to be popular and can be enough to add interest to your kitchen.

So, what tiles are going to be on-trend this year? “I think we’re going to see a lot more terrazzo tiles this decade,” Downie said.

A renovation is a large job to undertake, but small changes like these make updating your home more affordable and easier to manage.